No changes at Pirtek

Pirtek Racing will field an unchanged line-up for the 2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season after Jeff Smith confirmed his return for the season ahead.

Smith will again team up with Independents champion Andrew Jordan for the upcoming campaign, which will be the third for the pair as partners with the Eurotech-run team.

The former Clio race secured his maiden podium finish last year at Knockhill en-route to twelfth in the championship standings and will now hope for a strong season in his second year at the wheel of an NGTC-spec Honda Civic.

“It is great to be back,” he told the official BTCC website. “It's fantastic to keep the continuity of the team going and keep moving forward. Mileage is crucial for me so to get back in the same car and environment, with this team behind me, is absolutely brilliant.

“Overall it was a pretty good year [last year] and obviously the second place at Knockhill was a real highlight. I wanted to finish in the top ten overall and we just missed out on that, but this season I want to push on and get myself in and around the top six. I have the equipment to do it, so it's just down to the driver to deliver!

“I think there's a number of things with these NGTC cars that haven't been explored yet so to have a real testing programme this year is important. It really is about unlocking the full potential of this car now and that's what we'll be focussing on over the next few weeks.”

Smith and Jordan tested their Hondas at Brands Hatch last week and will run at Thruxton this week as prepartions continue for the opening rounds of the season at Brands Hatch at the end of March.